Cold Comets eliminated by Posen

March 14, 2007|By Steve Foley News Review Sports Writer

ST. IGNACE - They would've liked to have played their game, but a pesky opponent had other thoughts in mind.

Mackinaw City just couldn't get its offensive engine fired up against Posen Tuesday in a Class D boys' basketball regional semifinal, as a tenacious Viking zone defense shut down the Comets as Posen posted a 58-52 victory at LaSalle High School.

Posen, 18-5, advances to the regional final at 7 p.m. Friday, March 16, against either Cedarville, 21-0, or Engadine, 16-6, who play today, Wednesday.

Mackinaw City closes a 17-5 season, and did so against a Posen team that outrebounded the Comets considerably, and slowed down Mackinaw's typical run-and-gun offensive style.

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"The shots just weren't falling off the bat and we couldn't get our motors going," said Mackinaw coach Garth Law, a St. Ignace grad. "I don't know if we used up all our shots against Harbor Light and Pellston or what, but they just weren't falling and that's just Mackinaw City basketball.

"They did a nice job of shutting down our shooters and forcing us to play their game most of the night. It just didn't work out for us.

"It's just too bad it was at my own house too."

Posen took advantage of Mackinaw's cold shooting start and built a 17-7 first quarter lead as Mackinaw made just three of its 20 first-quarter field goal attempts.

Posen's 6-foot-5 junior center Nicholas Latulip, who finished with a career-high 21 rebounds, cleaned up the glass early on both ends and scored nine points in the first quarter.

"Our game plan was to use our size to our advantage and we did a nice job rebounding off the bat," Posen coach Steven Hentkowski said. "At times, we were a little impatient, but we were able to get the ball down low to our big man (Latulip) and he came through for us."

The Vikings closed the second quarter on a 7-0 run to take a 30-16 halftime lead as Jordan Hincka connected on his third 3-pointer of the stanza and Latulip added four straight free throws.

"Hincka hit some big threes for them to give them a lift when they needed it," Law said. "Of course, Latulip was huge for them as well. We just didn't have the size against him.

"We had the heart, but just not the size."

Posen took its biggest lead, 35-20, with just over three minutes to go in the third as Latulip had four free throws after drawing fouls on offensive rebounds.

The Comets then cut the deficit down to nine, 39-30, at the end of the third as junior Logan Paquet hit back-to-back triples and senior Chase Closs added another 3-pointer.

"Their 3-point shooting was my biggest concern," Hentkowski said. "Unfortunately for them, they weren't making them early. In the second half, they were putting a little more pressure on the ball, they got us rattled a little and once they settled down, they started making some shots.

"We knew eventually some of their shots would fall for them."

Posen then got the lead back up to 14 points, 49-35, midway through the fourth as Jason McLeod came off the bench to provide a defensive spark. McLeod's putback in heavy traffic also gave the Vikings their biggest margin of the fourth.

Again, Mackinaw City cut into the deficit with a 9-0 run to make it 49-44 with one minute, 20 seconds to go as Chase Closs knocked down a pair of triples as well as a tough inside shot.

That would be as close as the Comets would get, however, as Posen's Brad Haske scored his lone field goal of the game on a tough inside move to make it 51-44.

From there, the Vikings closed the game out at the free throw line, making 7-of-8 from the line to pull away.

Hincka had a game-high 24 points, while Latulip added 17, while Haske had nine rebounds.

For Mackinaw, Chase Closs finished with a team-high 21 points, while Paquet added 12 points and Trevor Closs, eight points. The Comets connected on 10 3-pointers for the game, four each from Paquet and Chase Closs.

"Mackinaw City is one very good team," Hentkowski said. "I'd hate to face them in the future because I know they have a lot of guys coming back. They'll be a very good team down the road."

Chase Closs is Mackinaw's lone senior, and he leaves as one of the school's all-time best, having score more than 1,000 points in his careeer.

"I can't complain one bit," Law said. "I got to coach a great kid in Chase Closs and I think I learned more from him than he learned from me this year. His heart and leadership was just phenomenal.

"Luckily, I get eight kids coming back next year. We have a bond and I'm looking forward to next year already."